Durban - Ratepayers led by the Westville Ratepayers’ Association (WRA) have withheld R1.2 million in payments meant to be paid to the eThekwini Municipality for services, as part of a campaign to boycott rates.
The money has instead been deposited into a trust account.
The WRA, under the umbrella body of eThekwini Ratepayers’ Protest Movement, declared a dispute with the municipality at the end of June and began boycotting rates payment at the end of July.
“As of today (Monday) R1.2m (has been paid to the trust account), we are hoping to get R1.5m by the end of the week,” said the chairperson of the WRA, Asad Gaffar.
WRA is leading the rates boycott against the municipality, saying besides the rates being excessive, the process leading to their implementation was flawed and there was poor consultation.
Gaffar said many residents were battling to pay their bills.
Last week the WRA revealed it was launching a court bid to get an interdict against eThekwini Municipality amid threats that the metro would implement credit control measures on those who did not pay for their services. In the papers, the WRA argues that the municipality could not threaten to cut services when a dispute had been launched.
DA councillor Warren Burne said his party had noted the fact that the amount diverted from the municipality’s coffers had risen to about R1.2m.
“I know that the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement has started a court application for an interdict to prevent the municipality from cutting off the supply of water or electricity to the people who have diverted their funds in protest. The application is to be heard on November 1.
“When the judgment is given after the application has been heard, the protesting residents will have a better understanding of the risks which they bear in diverting their municipality payments in protest,” said Burne.
ActionSA councillor Alan Beesley said the fact that almost R1m had so far been withheld in the rates boycott was indicative that the boycott was gaining momentum.
“The mayor and the ANC leadership of the municipality continue to handle this matter exceptionally poorly. It’s imperative that the legitimate concerns of those withholding money get urgently addressed.”
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said they had received a notification from their legal team that the matter pertaining to the eThekwini Rates Protest Movement was now the subject of a court interdict.
“Therefore, we are not in a position to discuss this matter any further since it is subject to court processes.
“I wish to caution you against generalisation, but also want to categorically state that eThekwini Municipality is working very well with ratepayers across the City in addressing their concerns.
“The positive engagements we recently had with the uMhlanga Ratepayers’ Association, for example, are a good and clear indication that ratepayers are confident that engaging their local government can lead to positive outcomes,” she said.
Meanwhile, parts of the Westville area were without water yesterday – the outage was caused by work being done on one of the main water pipelines in that area.